The effect of one-on-one music education on a child

Abstract:

Although many early childhood classrooms use music as a part of the daily routine, there is limited research on the effect of music on young children with speech and language delays. This research is a case study of the effect of one-on-one music lessons with a five-year-old child exhibiting a severe phonological delay in speech and a moderate expressive language delay. Through weekly music lessons conducted over a five month period, the child‟s speech and language goals were targeted through music, using the program, “Kids Express Train” developed by Speech-Language Pathologist Rachel Arnston and Chez Raginiak (2007d, 2007e, 2007f, 2007k) as a way to excite and create a desire in children to imitate and verbally participate through music. Some additional resources used were Silly Songs: For Phonological Awareness (Banker, 1998) which uses music and rhythm to help children hear sounds in words, match these sounds to their corresponding letters in the alphabet and produce the sounds accurately, and Phonemic Awareness Songs & Rhymes (Callella & Jordano, 1998a, 1998b, 1998c) which helps children listen to language and play with the sounds in the words through theme-based songs. A description of the progress throughout the weekly lessons and the pre- and post- assessment results are presented in addition to pre- and post- interviews with the child‟s mother and the speech-language pathologist who supports the child‟s programming. The child‟s diagnosis changed from a severe phonological delay and a moderate expressive language delay to a mild phonological delay and a mild expressive language delay.